Rut

So I think I am in a winter rut.  I know, winter hasn’t even really started yet.  But I think it has less to do with the weather and more to do with the extended darkness and the monotony of our daily activities.   Breakfast, School, Lunch, Work, Nap, Clean, Dinner, Bath, Bedtime....I’m bored, my kids must be too!  I want to try and do more interesting and different things with them, I just cant seem to find the time.  You other working mom’s out there....do you feel like you have enough time to do this, or is it just me??  I cant tell if I would still feel this way no matter what, or if it’s just because I spend half of each day at work.  I think my new goal is going to be to try and do at least one new thing with the girls each day until the end of the year..we’ll see how it goes!

Smile

I can’t help but smile every time I see the smiles on my daughters’ faces.  No matter how bad my day is going or if I am sad, mad, etc, seeing the smile on their little faces just brightens up my day and I can’t do anything but smile and laugh with them.

Switchy Witchy

I really try not to give Kenna much snack/candy type foods, mostly because it is bad for her, but also because she can’t eat most of it because of her egg allergy.  So holidays are rather hard for her because everyone eats things she can’t have.  Christmas is loaded with cookies, Thanksgiving is just a pain because I have to make everyone double and triple check what they put in the food they cook, and Halloween...I never know what is in all the candy, short of reading the labels on every kind of candy at the store before hand and making a list..not worth it.  So while trying to come up with my plan of attack for Halloween this year, I stumbled across something in a magazine.  They had the idea of “The Switchy Witchy”.  Sounds silly, I know, but give it a chance.  So they had the kids pick out just a few pieces of their candy, and then the rest they leave in their baskets on the front porch, then in the morning the Switchy Witchy takes the candy and leaves them something like a book, DVD, or toy.  I thought, well that seems a lot like bribery, but then the idea started to grow on me.  At least for this year, my girls will be trick or treating early (not to mention also on 2 different days before the actual Halloween trick or treating), so if they leave the candy for the Switchy Witchy, that in turns means less candy I have to buy to pass out, bonus number one.  I don’t have to check the candy for egg, bonus number two.  It also means my kids are not eating all the crap that they get and bouncing off the walls all night, bonus numbers three and four!  And that was all it took, I was convinced!  The Switchy Witchy is coming to our house this year to exchange books for candy.  Oh, and to add educational to the list of bonuses, I am making Kenna write a note to the Switchy Witchy to leave with her candy to let her know that she is indeed interested in the switch J



It's For Me

So I tend to buy my girls a lot of movies and CD’s and such.  It would seem that I do it to be a nice Mom and give them something, but really it’s because I can’t stand to listen to the Tangled soundtrack every time I get in the car anymore.  If Kenna starts liking a new movie/show/song, I pretty much let her run with it because it is at least something different than the last trend.  So, on that note, the newest craze in our house is the movie Rio.  I decided to buy the soundtrack for the car, and I like it!  It’s fun and upbeat and it makes me feel like I am somewhere tropical, not driving in my mini-van in Michigan weather with one screaming child and the other singing loudly.

Confession

Confession:  Even though I have a to-do list a mile long, when both girls actually take a nap at the same time, I like to just sit and relax, at least for a little bit. J

Thankful

I have decided that I really need to appreciate all the good things in my life, however big or small.  I don’t want to take anything for granted and I want to enjoy every minute of everything I do.  I tend to be a little bit on the negative side.  A while back, I wrote a list of all the things I would do if I had more time, which did tend to be a bit negative.  Instead, I am going to think of things that make me happy each day that I get the time to enjoy, and all the things that I am thankful for!

·          The quietness of the house when I get up early and get to sit in the dark and drink my coffee.

·         Hearing Kenna call for me in her singsong voice each morning when she wakes up.

·         Getting some good alone snuggle time in with Brinley when she decides to wake up at 4:30 am, and the happy smile she always gives me as I am trying to rock her back to sleep.

·         The time I get to spend with just me and Joe either before the girls get up, or after they go to bed, where we get to really just sit and talk to each other, without the TV on.

·         Getting to spend time with our great family and friends, and knowing how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

·         Knowing that although I don’t love my job, I am lucky to have a job and one that allows me to bring my girls with me.

·         Seeing the new things my daughters learn on a daily basis and knowing that I am teaching it to them.

·         The exhilarating feeling after getting in a good workout. J

·         Being able to feed, clothe, and provide for our family.

This is my life

So this is on the hind tails of being up all night with a hysterical teething baby.  You know when you see a commercial or ad or something that makes you laugh so hard because it is so relatable? Like you have said those exact words at one point or another. That is me with this new show that is coming out this fall called Up All Night. Every time I see a preview of it, they are literally saying exact phrases that I have used in the past few months and it cracks me up! If you haven’t seen previews, you need to watch this, especially if you have kids...you will laugh, promise!

http://youtu.be/5db6eixmiv0